Dua ca rot | Pickled carrots

Vietnamese dishes are often accompanied by pickled vegetables to add a touch of sour and crunchy bite to the flavor and texture. Pickled carrot, Dua ca rot, is particularly known by the lukewarm salads and famous Vietnamese sandwiches Banh mi that gives the dish an extra dimension.

Pickled carrots, Dua ca rot or Do chua (literally “sour things”), are often indispensable in various Vietnamese dishes, and therefore good to keep in the refrigerator. With hygienic act you can retain pickled carrots in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for about 1 month. They also need a little time to get the best flavor, minimal one day. Always good to have a jar in stock. The emphasis on sweet or sour is a matter of adjusting the amount of sugar and vinegar to your personal preference.

Ingredients

1 large carrot, cut into julienne (I use the julienne peeler, easy and fast)

50 g sugar

¼ tsp salt

50 ml of water

50 ml vinegar

Preparation

Dissolve the sugar and salt in water in a sauce pan. Add the vinegar and let the dressing cool in a large bowl.

Mix the carrots in the dressing. Let the vegetables rest for about 2 hours at room temperature before use.

Besides carrots, daikon is also often used, a slightly spicy radish. Because carrot and daikon are so different of taste, I would never use them together in a pickled jar and rather use them separately. Then you still have the choice to use daikon.
To create a little color in the pickles I sometimes also use cucumber, papaya and/or yellow carrots. There is very much possible to combine color, bite and taste. The following recipe is for more color and acidity, as I prefer my pickled vegetables.

Ingredients

600 g of small yellow and orange carrots

200 g sugar

2 tsp salt

300 ml of vinegar

Preparation

Dissolve the sugar and the salt in the vinegar in a saucepan over low heat. Allow to cool. Peel the carrots and cut into slices. I don’t cut too thin slices, because I love a bit of bite and crunch. With a mandolin you cut the carrots easily and quickly. Clean the carrots and let them dry.

Put he vinegar mixture with the carrots in a jar and stir well so that they are all just below the vinegar. Put the lid on and store in the refrigerator.